Abstract: The papers document Dahlberg's writing career and personal life during the 1960s and 1970s.

Physical Location: Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.

creator:
Dahlberg, Edward, 1900-1977.

Other Finding Aids

Irving Rosenthal papers, M1550

Acquisition Information

Accession number: 2006-325 This collection was purchased by Stanford University, Special Collections in December 2006.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in Five series:

Series I. Personal

Series II. Correspondence

Series III. Professional

Series IV. Photographs

Series V. Clippings

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection contains correspondence, typescripts, photographs, periodicals, clippings, and ephemera. Included in the collection
are typescripts for
The Olive of Minerva; or, The Comedy of a Cuckold, (1976) and typescripts for the Crowell anthology,
Bottom Dogs; From Flushing to Calvary; Those who Perish: and Hitherto Unpublished and Uncollected Works (1976). Other materials in the collection include unpublished typescript portions of
The Carnal Myth (1968),
The Confessions of Edward Dahlberg (1971), and extensive notes for miscellaneous works. The collection also contains incoming correspondence from a variety
of prominent literary figures, as well as a few outgoing letters and drafts of letters by Dahlberg.

Biography

Edward Dahlberg, American writer of fiction, poetry, and criticism, was born in Boston in 1900. After a tumultuous early childhood,
he was placed by his mother in the Jewish Orphan Asylum in Cleveland, where he remained until 1917. Dahlberg then joined the
army and later worked as a day laborer while wandering the American West. In 1921, he enrolled at the University of California,
Berkeley, where he majored in philosophy and anthropology, before transferring to Columbia University to complete his degree.

Dahlberg moved to Europe in 1926 and became part of the expatriate group of American writers living in Paris. In 1929, he
published his first novel,
Bottom Dogs, based on his childhood experiences at the orphanage and his travels in the American West. After the publication of
Bottom Dogs, Dahlberg returned to the United States and wrote a number of other works that reflected his early life, including
From Flushing to Calvary (1932) and
Those Who Perish (1934).

For a number of years, Dahlberg devoted himself to literary study. His extensive readings of the works of Dante, Shakespeare,
Thoreau, and many others, resulted in a writing style quite different from the social realism that characterized his earlier
writing. Dahlberg's new style, one rich in biblical and classical allusions, first appeared in
Do These Bones Live (1941), a collection of essays on American Literature.

During most of the 1940s and 1950s, Dahlberg wrote little, but during the 1960s and 1970s, he became quite prolific and further
refined his unique style through the publication of poetry, autobiographical works, fiction, and criticism. Dahlberg died
in Santa Barbara, California in 1977.

Access

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.

This series contains incoming and some outgoing correspondence. Outgoing letters from Dahlberg have been specifically noted
in the folder descriptions. Dahlberg made drafts of his letters, so in many cases it is difficult to determine if a letter
was actually sent. For more information on Dahlberg's letter-writing process, see Irving Rosenthal's cover note in folder
2.1. Typescripts, clippings, and other materials originally included with incoming correspondence have been retained in this
series in order to preserve the context of these items.

Williams, Jonathan: telegram, letters, distribution list for
Festschrift, typescript for Williams' tribute to Dahlberg, "The Dead are made to Eat Asphodels"
1963-1977

Box 3, Folder 16

Wilson, Edmund: letterno date

Box 3, Folder 17

Woolf, Douglas: letters1974

Box 3, Folder 18

Miscellaneous correspondence: telegram, letter, noteCirca 1950-1961

Series III. PROFFESIONAL

Scope and Contents note

This series contains materials specifically related to Dahlberg's work as a writer and teacher. It includes typescripts, notes,
proofs for specific books, miscellaneous notes listed chronologically, and correspondence with publishers and other professional
contacts.

Box 3, Folder 19

Abel's Confession: typescript
1965

Box 3, Folder 20

Art foundations: letters, telegram, grant application1961-1971

Box 3, Folder 21

Authors Guild: letters1964-1972

Box 3, Folder 22

Biographical notes: drafts of short biographical notes for book jackets, etc.1967-1975